


Salt and Earnestness

by Yrindor



Series: Sports Anime Shipping Olympics 2016 Fills [40]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Awkward Tsukishima Kei, Coming Out, Earrings, F/M, MTF Yamaguchi Tadashi, Prompt Fic, SASO 2016
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-10
Updated: 2016-07-10
Packaged: 2018-07-22 16:25:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 754
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7445902
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yrindor/pseuds/Yrindor
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Yamaguchi's always wanted to get her ears pierced, but she feels like she needs to tell Tsukishima she's a girl first.  When she comes out, she's convinced she's ruined everything, but maybe things aren't so bad after all.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Salt and Earnestness

**Author's Note:**

  * For [onewiththestarcult](https://archiveofourown.org/users/onewiththestarcult/gifts).



> Written for Sports Anime Shipping Olympics 2016 Bonus Round 3. The prompt was:
>
>> **Present:** Earring box, inside they have cucumber earrings.  
>  **To:** Tadashi  
>  **From:** Tsukki  
>  **Note:** I guess my salt and your refreshingness make pickles.  
> 

Yamaguchi felt almost as if she were floating as she hurried down the street, clutching a small jewelry box tightly to her chest. She was finally going to get her ears pierced. Finally _could_ get her ears pierced now that she didn't have to hide it anymore.

It was amazing how much things could change in a day she thought, remembering the previous afternoon when she was certain she had ruined everything.

_Like on most afternoons, they were at Tsukishima's house doing homework, sitting next to each other in front of the low table, their heads nearly touching as they pored over the textbook sitting open between them. It had been Yamaguchi's day to pick the order they went through their subjects, so they had started with literature, and were finishing with biology._

_Tsukishima, like usual, had finished first, his paper filled with neat diagrams. When Yamaguchi finally finished drawing her own lopsided cells, she closed the book, flipping back to the table of contents to check off another section. Her eyes fell on the chapter on reproduction, and she felt the sharp pang of longing for what she could never have._

_"Tsukki," she said before she could change her mind, "there's something I need to tell you."_

_"Huh?" Tsukishima asked. He already had his headphones on and was starting to zone out to his music as he did every day when he was done._

_"It's kind of important," she said hesitantly, sliding a little closer but looking at the floor._

_Tsukishima sighed, but he slipped his headphones back around his neck and ran his fingers through her hair. "What is it?" he asked._

_"I….ummm...I'm a girl."_

_The hand in her hair froze. "You're what? But we've changed together; you're definitely a guy."_

_Not my body, Tsukki, my mind. I'm trans….I'm a girl born in a boy's body."_

_Tsukishima pulled away completely, sliding back until he was sitting on the edge of his bed. "You're a girl?" he repeated._

_She nodded, biting her lip and already beginning to regret saying anything. "I'll understand if you don't want to be together anymore," she said quietly. "I know you can't really change who you're attracted to, and—""_

_"I need to think," Tsukishima interrupted, rubbing his temples. "I need some time to think."_

_"I understand," she said as she gathered her books._

_Tsukishima didn't even look up as she slipped out of his room._

_She managed to hold herself together until Tsukishima's house was out of sight. Then she collapsed onto the nearest bench and cried, silently berating herself for her impulsiveness and for ever thinking things could stay the same between them once her secret was out._

_By the time she finally forced herself to finish walking home, she was convinced she had not only ruined her relationship but also destroyed the years of friendship that had led up to it…_

_…So it had been quite a surprise to find Tsukishima waiting awkwardly for her the next morning._

_"Here," he said without preamble, thrusting a small box into her hands. "Open it."_

_"I'm sorry," he added as she read the note._

_She grinned at him. He had no way of knowing, but she had dreamed of getting her ears pierced for years. The only thing that had stopped her was worrying what he would think when he saw them. And now he was practically encouraging her._

_"They're perfect!" she said as she hugged him._

_"I think I'll always love you, no matter who you are," Tsukishima whispered in her ear._

_"I love you too," she whispered back._

Which was how she found herself hurrying down the sidewalk to get her ears pierced. She stood outside the shop for a long minute before she worked up the courage to push open the door and step inside; it was exciting, but also terrifying.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next morning, Yamaguchi tied her hair back before she left the house, proudly showing off the new silver studs in her ears.

"They suit you," Tsukishima said the minute he saw them.

She nodded. "The piercer said your cucumbers would be too hard to keep clean while they healed, but I'm going to put them in as soon as I can."

"You should have told me. I would have gone with you."

"And passed out again?" Yamaguchi teased gently. "You hate needles."

"I would have gone anyway," Tsukishima said, looking at the ground once more.

"I know," she replied, resting her forehead briefly on his shoulder before they left for school.

**Author's Note:**

> This marks the end of Bonus Round 3. Next up is Bonus Round 4: Quotes.
> 
> As always, comments and feedback are welcome and appreciated.


End file.
